Griffith is committed to ensuring equal access to education for anyone who wants to learn.
If you are experiencing extreme financial difficulty, you may be eligible for financial assistance to help with living expenses and the costs of studying at university.
We also have practical information to help you with the cost of living and with working while studying to help reduce financial stress.
Requesting support
If extreme financial hardship is adversely impacting your studies, you can lodge a request for one-off financial support to help cover education-related expenses.
When completing the request, you will be asked to provide bank statements that demonstrate your financial position as well other supporting documents. Please provide as much information as you can.
The Brighter Futures Scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students impacted by various types of educational disadvantage, including financial hardship, educational disruption, disability or others, that has impacted their ability to achieve their full potential.
This suite of scholarships will be awarded to commencing and continuing students and includes some scholarships that are specific for students registered with Student Disability and Accessibility Support, some specific for First Peoples students, as well as some specific to students who are Permanent Residents.
The cost of living is going up and we know this is putting pressure on students and their finances. We have gathered the supports available at Griffith University all in one place.
These supports cover areas such as finance, food, transport and learning support.
Update on the 50 per cent completion rate requirement
From 1 January 2024, the Australian Government has removed the 50 per cent completion rate requirement for students accessing Commonwealth assistance (a Commonwealth supported place, HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP assistance).
Working while studying
Having a casual or part-time job can help support you financially while studying. You may also gain relevant experience, contacts and opportunities for graduate employment.
Griffith's Careers and Employment Service has a range of helpful information if you're looking for work.
Financial support for professional development, work readiness, placement, internship, or global mobility activities is now available through the Career Achievers Program (for first year students) and the Graduate Accelerator Program (for students after first year).
This program is available to currently enrolled domestic undergraduate students from particular program areas who are either from a low-SES background and/or from a regional or remote area and/or identify as First Nations.
The WIL Placement Bursary is designed to address financial hardship and placement poverty by providing targeted financial support to equity students undertaking work-integrated learning. ​
There is no need to apply: eligible students undertaking placement in a given trimester will receive an offer email.
Sell your old textbooks
Want to save money by purchasing second-hand textbooks, or do you have textbooks you want to sell? You can take advantage of Australia's largest online second-hand textbook exchange StudentVIP.
Please note that this website is not affiliated with Griffith University. Keep safe and make sure the edition you are buying is suitable for your course.
More information is available to Griffith users. Log in to view it.
Answer
Scholarship payments are generally not counted as income for the purpose of the social security income test, providing you are a full-time student and the scholarship directly contributes to your study. You can find more information on theExempt equity and merit-based scholarships section on the Centrelink website. We recommend that you advise Centrelink that you will be receiving a scholarship and the amount you will receive.
Explanation
Equity scholarships are for students who have experienced financial hardship and/or educational disadvantage.
You can find more information on the Scholarships webpage.Â